Hello, Erin here with a fun little hybrid project for you.

I know that a lot of people started school a while back, but here in Oregon we are just getting things going.  In fact, my youngest starts his first day of preschool this week, and man, I am not sure if I am ready for that.

One thing that really took us by surprise was how specific our school supply lists were this year.  My kids tend to be fairly picky as to what color and designs they have on their folders and notebooks, but because we were late in hitting the stores, we ended up stuck with some pretty bland supplies.  My kids were pretty disappointed, so we decided to spend this weekend making our supplies look a little more “happy”.

For those who are looking for some school themed digi products, I am using Love To Learn, which you can find HERE!

First, simply go through your digistash and find a kit or some images that you really like.  Print out some papers to serve as your background patterns and some elements that you can use to add interest.

Now trim up your papers so that they fit the various notebooks and folders you will be giving a “facelift”.  Go ahead and cut out your elements too and match them up to the backgrounds that compliment them best.

Now you can adhere your elements to the trimmed background papers.  It is best to go ahead and stick these elements down flat rather than give them dimension.  Notebooks and folders get taken in and out of backpacks, desks, and lockers quite a bit and anything sticking up from the surface will get ripped or torn more easily.

And now you can adhere your layered cover to your notebook. You can do this in many ways. You can simply use a glue stick, or you can use mod podge or a matt medium or even spray adhesive.  You just want something that you can put down in a uniform layer without a lot of liquid that could cause the paper to bleed or bubble.

Now you are ready to finish off your cover.  Some notebooks, such as composition books, are easy to add some washi tape or duct tape to the edge.  This enforces the binding and keeps the edge of your cover down.

You can also use pens or markers to add more designs, outlines, or titles to your cover as well. Older students enjoy doing this part themselves as it adds a personal touch.

When you have all your covers just the way you want them, you might want to consider covering it in a layer of contact paper.  This will ensure the edges don’t come up, or get torn of and that your cover does not come completely off the notebook.  If you don’t like the look of contact paper, you can also just let nature take its course (aka – wait for the cover to come off) and then have fun recovering it again!

And there you go!  Now our school supplies make us smile and we are off to start another great year of learning!